Kfarsghab

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Kfarsghab كفرصغاب
Kfarsghab as seen from Ehden - June 2004
Administration
Country	Lebanon
Governorate	North Governorate
District	Zgharta District
Geography
Kfarsghab Location of Kfarsghab, Lebanon
Coordinates	34°16′42″N 35°57′44″E / 34.27833, 35.96222Coordinates: 34°16′42″N 35°57′44″E / 34.27833, 35.96222
Elevation	1,380 m (4,528 ft)

Kfarsghab ( known also as Kfar Sghab, Kafarsghab or Kfarseghab; Arabic: كفرصغاب‎, pronounced [kafarsˁiɣaːb], (listen) (help·info)) is a village located in the Zgharta District in the North Governorate of Lebanon. It is situated in the Valley of Qadisha, which is considered a holy and spiritual place in Eastern Christianity.

The Lebanese hailing from Kfarsghab number 20,000 worldwide. 95% of them live outside Lebanon, mainly in Australia and the United States. The population is mostly Maronite Catholic.

Contents 1 History 1.1 The Mamluk Period – 1252 – 1517 1.2 The Ottoman period – 1517–1918 1.2.1 The 16th Century 1.2.2 The 17th Century 1.2.3 The 18th Century 1.2.3.1 The foundation of the modern Kfarsghab (1704–1761) 1.2.3.1.1 The Abou Mansour family 1.2.3.1.2 The Abou Youssef family 1.2.3.1.3 The Habqouq family 1.2.3.1.4 The Khouriyyeh family 1.2.3.2 The Bourgeois Sheikhs rise (1761–1772) 1.2.3.3 The development of Kfarsghab (1772–1799) 1.2.4 The 19th Century 1.2.4.1 The monastic orders (1840–1870) 1.2.4.2 The emigration (1870–1899) 2 Geography 3 Climate 4 Economy 4.1 Agriculture 4.2 Services 4.3 Construction sector 4.4 Emigrants remittances and support 5 Etymology and names 6 Arabic accent 7 See also 8 Notes 9 External links 10 References

[edit] History

Kfarsghab predates Christianity in Mount Lebanon. However, like most villages in the Qadisha valley, Kfarsghab's history began with the settlement of the Maronites in Mount Lebanon during the 10th Century. According to the popular tradition, the church of Saint Awtel was built on the ruins of a pagan temple. Pagan temples existed in this region as attested in the Greek inscription mentioning the date 272 AD found in the Mar Mama church in Ehden.^[1] Other temples may have existed in the region, such as the monastery of Mar Sarkis and Bakhos in Ehden, which may have been built atop ruins.^[2] Given the exceptional location of Saint Awtel’s Church built on a promontory, the popular tradition about the existence of a pagan temple in Kfarsghab is plausible.

[edit] The Mamluk Period – 1252 – 1517

Kfarsghab is mentioned in the writings of the Maronite Historians concerning events that happened in 1283 at the end of the Crusaders period. ^[3] It is related to the invasion of Jebbet Bsharri by the Mamluk army and the collaboration of Ibn Al Sabha ابن الصبحا from Kfarsghab with the Mamluks. Here’s what El Douaihy in Tarikh Al-Azminah says about the role of Ibn Al Sabha during this invasion:

And it was related that the fort that was in Hawqa could not be taken by the Army, which was then advised by Ibn Al Şabĥa from Kfarşghab to divert the water source of Bcherray and direct it against the fort. They thus took it (the fort of Hawqa) by the force of water and brought it to the ground. For that reason, they (the armies) authorized Ibn Al Şabĥa to dress in white Bash Yanis (White clothes reserved to the only Muslims) and the rest of the slaves served him (Ibn Al Şabĥa) and he was very powerful with them. Then, he (Ibn Al Şabĥa) repented of his bad actions and returned and constructed the Monastery of Hawqa close to the fort for the housing of the monks. And the waterway [used to destroy the fort] became reserved since those times and till our days for the usage of the Monasteries in turns, thus on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays for the Monastery of Qannubine, on Wednesdays for the Monastery of Hawqa Blawza, and on the rest of the days (of the week) for the town of Hadshit and its Waqfs.

This 'betrayal' can be understood in a historic context. At the beginning of the 13th Century, three main powers existed more or less peacefully in the Middle East: the Byzantines, the Franks, and the Ayyubid Sultans in Cairo, Egypt. Each power had its allies in the region. The failure of the Seventh Crusade and the defeat of the Mongols announced the rise of a new power, the Mamluks of Egypt. From 1250 AD, the Mamluks entered actively into the political scene of the Middle East. After securing their rule and in need of legitimacy in the eyes of the Muslim world, the Sultan Baibars started attacking the Franks, seizing Antioch in 1268. From that date, the pre-existing divisions of the native Christians of Lebanon between Pro and Anti-Franks became more marked; especially that the anti-Frankish party finally found in the Mamluks the strong allies it was missing since the First Crusade in 1099. After a first limited Mamluk incursion in Jebbet Bsharri against the village of Hadath in 1268, the Mamluk armies came back to the region in 1283 in a more organized manner, and probably also returned in 1290 after the fall of the Frankish city of Tripoli in 1289. These campaigns were mainly directed against the allies of the Franks in Jebbet Bsharri according to the text of El Douaihy. Their success reinforced the position of the anti-Frankish party to which Ibn Al Sabha belonged.

During the following Mamluk period in Lebanon (1290–1517), few mentions of the village are found.

In 1470 Kfarsghab is mentioned, in conjunction with the construction of Saint Awtel’s Church^[4]. It is the only church in Lebanon dedicated to this Saint whose tradition is shared by the Maronite, Orthodox and Jacobite churches.

Another mention, though indirect, stems from the end of the conflict between the Jacobites and Maronites. Profiting from the troubles in Jebbet Bsharri (or maybe called upon for help by the Jacobites), the Muslim Muqaddams of the neighbouring region of Ďanniyeh attacked Ehden in 1489 hoping for a quick victory. The inhabitants of Ehden and of the neighbouring villages, including Kfarşghab, despairing of the help of the Muqaddam of Bsharri, ‘Abdel Mon‘em, pushed back the attackers^[5].

[edit] The Ottoman period – 1517–1918

Following the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the Ottoman Empire entered a long period of conquest and expansion. By defeating the Mamluks in 1517, it achieved control over the Middle East. Jebbet Bsharri entered 4 long centuries under the Ottoman rule.

[edit] The 16th Century

The first Ottoman Census of 1519 credited Kfarsghab with 14 male adults (of more than 15 years old), all Christians and married. This figure allowed historians to estimate the total population by using an average of 6.6 inhabitants / male, which gave about 92 inhabitants.^[6] The tax money amounted to 1,600 Akçes^[7] and its payment reserved to the Waqf of the heirs of Saad Al Moulouk.

The second census of 1571 recorded 12 males in Kfarsghab. The tax amount was of 2,892 Akçes paid to the Waqf of the Two Holy Mosques. There was an amount of 1,068 Akçes paid as Jizya.

In spite of the tax increases due to the important inflation in the Middle-East, Kfarsghab seemed to witness a decrease in its population between 1519 and 1571 of -3 per mil / year. This decrease is attributed to the economic difficulties of the 16th Century in the Middle East, but also to the struggle between Maronites and Jacobites. Kfarsghab, is situated in the middle of four historical centers of Jacobites in the region: Bqoufa, Bane, Hadshit and Bsharri. It is supposed that some Jacobites were living in Kfarsghab and were obliged to flee the region after they lost the support of Bsharri’s Muqaddams near 1550. Both censuses show that Kfarsghab was inhabited by Christians with no indication as to whether they were Jacobites or Maronites. Around 1600, the Kfarsghab population merged with that of the neighboring extinct village of Day’at Moussa or Qaryat Moussa.

This merger occurred due to religious disputes. The inhabitants of the village of Qaryat Moussa were accused of being Jacobites since the end of the 14th Century.^[8] The struggle between Maronites and Jacobites in the region started at the beginning of the 15th Century and lasted till around the mid-16th Century. It ended, with the advantage going to the Maronites. This might have economically and demographically weakened the Jacobite population of Qaryat Moussa. Moreover, the heavy snows which are advanced as the cause behind the disappearance of the neighboring Jacobite village of Bqoufa around 1600 might have given the last stroke to the existence of Qaryat Moussa as an independent agglomeration obliging its surviving population to take refuge in Kfarsghab^[9].

Historical references of Qaryat Moussa exist till the end of the 16th Century. The village seems to disappear from the records afterwards. In the Ottoman Censuses cited previously, Qaryat Moussa is credited with 9 males in 1519, all Christians and only 7 of them are married. In the second census, 12 males were recorded in 1571. This demographic vitality is somewhat intriguing, especially considering the weakening of Kfarsghab’s demography over the same period. Another reference concerns a Maronite Synod that took place in 1598 in Saint Moura, the church of Qaryat Moussa.^[10] The priest, Ibrahim of Qaryat Moussa, at the time of the 1598 Synod was an important aide of the then Patriarch Youssef AlRizzi (1596–1608).^[11] AinTourini attributes another Synod in this church in 1644^[12].

Another point of view of the merge and the location of the Synod comes from Father Youakim Moubarac introducing his translation to French of the canons of the Synod:^[13]

We put into this translation a particular care due to the fact that Day`at Moussa overlooks by some hundred meters the village where we were born. However, we cannot help to have some doubt as to the precise location of this Synod. Mart Moura's church, the generally assumed location for that synod celebration, is well known and its patronal saint's day is still celebrated every year with the fervent participation of the faithful from our village Kfarsghab, on September 24th. Also, we think that there lies our village of origin, before unknown reasons to the local memory made us go down. But my family acquired in the time of my father a plot of land upper than Mart Moura. It is called Marg el-Dayr and it belonged to the family Mousa. Its conversion into an orchard caused the cleaning of an oratory in decline devoted to Saint Augustine. Would it be rather there the place of celebration of the synod? I prefer to believe it because the place in question is on the border of the famous village of Bqoufa, also ruined, but from which we know that the prelates of the family Rizzi are originated, prelates who led our Church in those times with three successive patriarchs.

Today, Mart Saint Moura Church belongs to Kfarsghab. It was restored in the 1990’s and is used once a year on Mart Moura’s Day on the 24th of September. On that day, all the villagers in Kfarsghab participate in celebrating a mass, praying especially for the rest of the souls of the forebears of Kfarsghab buried in the cemetery located next to the church.

The modern Kfarsghab results from a merge between Kfarsghab and Qaryat Moussa around 1600.

[edit] The 17th Century

At the end of the 16th Century, the emergence of a first autonomous Lebanese Emirate in the southern Mount Lebanon had important impacts in Jebbet Bsharri. In political terms, it ended in 1621 the role of the Muqaddams of Bsharri as the traditional lords of the region being the official representatives of the Ottoman Governor of Tripoli. In economical terms, the southern Mount Lebanon under the stable rule of the Emir Fakhreddine attracted many families who were encouraged by the Emir to establish there. An important migration took place from Jebbet Bsharri to the south but also to Aleppo, Syria.

The bloody end of the autonomous Emirate in 1635 left Jebbet Bsharri in political confusion. The government was assigned by the Ottomans to two local village sheikhs as joint governors of Jebbet Bsharri: the Sheikh Abi Karam Yaaqoub from Hadath (1635–1640) and the Sheikh Abi Gebrayel Youssef Karam from Ehden (1635–1641). The period that opened up when those two sheikhs disappeared was full of exactions and violence. Given the instability, the people of Jebbet Bsharri insisted in 1654, on the Governor of Tripoli to appoint as governor of their region, Sheikh Ahmad Hamadeh, a member of the powerful Shiite Hamadeh family, rulers of the Jbeil District and Batroun District regions.^[14] The Hamadeh did not succeed in establishing stability before the end of the century as they were continuously challenged by the local sheikhs and by members of their own clan.

For Kfarsghab, an important event of this century will take place in 1695 when the Lebanese Maronite Order was founded by three young Maronites from Aleppo, Syria. The Patriarch Estephan El Douaihy encouraged the founders and established them in the Monastery of Mart Moura in Ehden. As the Order grew quickly, they established in Mar Lishaa, Bsharri (1696) and in Qozhaya (1708). In the coming two centuries, the Order will represent a major attraction for the young people of Kfarsghab who will join massively its ranks.

Among the first members of the new Order was Abdallah Habqouq from Kfarsghab. He joined the Lebanese Maronite Order very early in the pioneering days and became administrator (Mudabbir) of the Order in 1698. The family of Father Abdallah Habqouq established in the region in the second part of the 17th Century and acquired the monastery of Qozhaya from the Gilwan family, owners of Qozhaya since 1567. The Habqouq family, and specifically Bishop Youhanna Habqouq, surrendered Qozhaya to the Lebanese Maronite Order in 1708.^[15]

[edit] The 18th Century

In the beginning of this century, the Jebbet Bsharri region was in a very poor state given the conflicts that took place in the past 70 years. Many villages were depopulated, land was abandoned. In order to populate the area, the Hamadeh encouraged people from their fiefdoms of Jbeil District and Batroun District to migrate to Jebbet Bsharri since 1677, as requested from them by the Governor of Tripoli.^[16] But it is not until 1704 that the Hamadeh succeeded in securing their rule of Jebbet Bsharri and started having some results in their repopulation efforts, especially that the situation in the south Mount Lebanon was plagued by the Qaissites / Yamanites conflict and then by the succession conflicts triggered by the fall of the house of Maans in 1697^[17]. For Kfarsghab, it is supposed that the main four families that compose the today's Kfarsghab came to the region from 1677 to 1704.

[edit] The foundation of the modern Kfarsghab (1704–1761)

[edit] The Abou Mansour family

It is between 1677 and 1704 that the family Abou Mansour Al Bahri arrived in Jebbet Bsharri from the coast of the Batroun District. They established themselves in Kfarsghab merging slowly with the few surviving natives, possibly from the Saliba family as recorded by the tradition.

The new-comers helped the Hamadeh in the administration of the region as it is shown in the records of the Court of Tripoli.^[18]

Those records show that,

• in 1737 the Sheikh of Kfarsghab, Mansour son of Hanna, vouched for the settlement of the Kfarsghab taxes by the Sheikh Hussein bin Moussa Hamadeh,

• in 1748, the Sheikh of Kfarsghab, Hanna Abou Mansour, did the same for the Sheikh Assaad bin Moussa Hamadeh,

• in 1752, the records of the Court show that Sheikh Hanna Son of Mansour from Kfarsghab was guarantor of Assaad Hamadeh.

Another reference to Sheikh Hanna is found on a religious book copy stating that Deacon Hanna son of Father Youssef Al Bahri finished copying the Reesh Qoryan with Fr Ibrahim Jilwan AlSamrani on July 3, 1754.^[19] Most of the sheikhs of that time were ordained deacons allowing them to have religious as well as political power.

[edit] The Abou Youssef family

The Abou Youssef Elias family came to the Jebbet Bsharri region in the beginning of 17th Century from Smar Jbeil, the village of the Gilwan family, ex-owners of the Monastery of Qozhaya. In another documented version, This family could have come originally from Benta‘el in the Jbeil region.^[20] This family was encouraged to settle in the region by the Gilwan’s and maybe the Hamadeh sheikhs. They settled first in Tourza and Arbet Qozhaya, working as sharecroppers of the Monastery of Qozhaya. After Qozhaya was handed down to the Lebanese Maronite Order in 1708, they moved to Kfarsghab between 1710 and 1720.

In the tradition of the village of Kfarsghab, Abou Youssef Elias married a daughter of the Abou Mansour Al Bahri family :

The first inhabitant ever recorded was Deeb El Bahri. Deeb came from the coast of Batroun and established himself in the district. He married Maureena El Saliba and had three Sons that are the origins of the three families - Abou Mansour, Khoury Youssef and Abou Abraham. The family of Abou Youssef was a descendant of Elias who came to Kfarsghab from the Coast and married a granddaughter of Deeb El Bahri …^[21]

In 1748, Abou Youssef Elias from Kfarsghab bought from Sheikh Assaad Hamadeh the land that will become later the village of Morh Kfarsghab^[22]. In the property deed established between the two men, Assaad Hamadeh referred to Abou Youssef Elias as our beloved and not with the title Sheikh. This personal reference could imply that Abou Youssef Elias was close to Assaad Hamadeh.

In 1755, the guarantor of Assaad Hamadeh at the Court of Tripoli was the Sheikh Elias Abou Youssef son of Bahri or Al Bahri. In spite of the name Al Bahri added to the name of this last sheikh, this sheikh is Abou Youssef Elias, married to a daughter of Al Bahri family.It seems that, between 1748 and 1755, Abou Youssef Elias became powerful enough to claim the sheikhdom of Kfarsghab and take it from his relatives by his wife, the Abou Mansour Al Bahri.

The Sheikh and his descendants will play an important role in the history of Kfarsghab and of Jebbet Bsharri.

[edit] The Habqouq family

This family arrived in Kfarsghab in the beginning of the 18th Century. Like the Abou Youssef Elias family, the Habqouq have bought the Monastery of Qozhaya from the Gilwan family in the second half of the 17th Century. The family came from Bsheeleh in the Batroun region^[23] and before that from Bikfaya in Metn^[24] and Jeita in Keserwan District. The priests of the family settled in the Monastery of Qozhaya and their families in Arbet Qozhaya and in Bane. It is this family that gave Qozhaya to the Lebanese Maronite Order in 1708. It is probably after this event that part of the family moved from Arbet Qozhaya to Kfarsghab, the other part stayed in Bane.

This family gave the Maronite Church several illustrious sons, like Abdallah Habqouq (1670–1758). Abdallah Habqouq from Kfarsghab joined the Lebanese Maronite Order very early in the pioneering days. He was administrator (Mudabbir) of the Order between 1698 and 1732 and then between 1738 and 1742. From 1729 to 1735 and then from 1742 to 1743, he was superior of the Monastery of Our Lady of Tamish, an important Monastery that became in 1744 the siege of the Baladites Order (after the split of the Order into two Orders: Baladites and Halabites).

Father Abdallah was consecrated Bishop on 20 May 1742 ^[25] by the Bishop Tubiya Al Khazin ( future Patriarch 1756–1766).^[26] This consecration was done in a context of conflict over the succession of Patriarch Yusuf Dargham Al Khazin between Tubiya Al Khazin and Ilyas Muhasib. This conflict was eventually settled by the Vatican by the election of Simaan Awwad and the confirmation of the consecration of Bishop Abdallah Habqouq. Bishop Abdallah is mentioned as a signatory of a legal document in his capaity of bishop in 1744, next to the name of the Patriarch Simaan Awwad.^[27]

Apparently Bishop Abdallah sided with the Halabites faction of the Order as no records for his death are found in the Baladites faction archives.

Bishop Abdallah died on 7 August 1758 in Kfarsghab ^[28] and is buried in Saint Awtel Church.

[edit] The Khouriyyeh family

Allied to the Abou Mansour family, the origin of this family could be traced to Aqoura, in the mountains of Jbeil. Its date of arrival in Kfarsghab is difficult to estimate. But given the fact that a Sheikh Hanna son of Rizk (from the Khourriyeh family) is cited in the records of the Court of Tripoli for the year 1761, this family had been settled in Kfarsghab for some time, most probably in the first part of the 18th Century.

[edit] The Bourgeois Sheikhs rise (1761–1772)

The major event of the eighteenth century for Jebbet Bsharri happened in 1761 when Abou Youssef Elias from Kfarsghab, along with Hanna Al Daher from Bsharri, Gerges Boulos El Douaihy from Ehden and Abou Sleimane Aouad from Hasroun, took all together the direct collection of the taxes of Jebbet Bsharri from the Governor of Tripoli, Osman Pacha the Georgian. They were helped by some of the traditional Sheikhs who guaranteed at the Court of Tripoli the payment of the taxes. It was the first serious defeat of the Hamadeh in this century and the rise of a new generation of local Maronite Sheikhs, called here Bourgeois Sheikhs.

But the Hamadeh counter-attacked, helped most probably by local people from Bsharri and Hasroun.^[29] In their struggle against the Hamadeh that lasted from 1760 till 1772, the bourgeois Sheikhs of Jebbet Bsharri got the support of the Governors of Tripoli, Osman Pasha and his son Mohammad Pasha, of the Sunnite Sheikhs of Danniyeh and of the Sheikhs of Zawiyeh. In 1763, the ambitious Emir Youssef Al Shihabi (ruled afterwards Mount Lebanon from 1770 to 1789) installed in the Jbeil region and being himself in conflict with the Hamadeh, profited from the difficulties of the Bourgeois Sheikhs and maneuvered to take from them the collection of taxes in Jebbet Bsharri. He contracted an alliance with the Bourgeois Sheikhs and confirmed their privileges in the tax collection of their districts as well as their right to claim the abandoned properties of the Hamadeh (Baklik). The fight with the Hamadeh will continue for 12 years. It will lead to their eviction from the whole region and to their final defeat in 1772. The Emir Youssef Al Shihabi, and his Shihabis successors, will have the direct rule of Jebbet Bsharri for almost one century from 1763 till 1844, helped by the new generation of Bourgeois Village Sheiks of Jebbet Bsharri: El Douaihy, Estephane, Awwad and Daher, but also Khattar and Issa Al Khoury.

In 1761, the guarantor of Abou Youssef Elias was a certain Sheikh Hanna son of Rizk from Kfarsghab. This family appeared as sheikhs of Kfarsghab for the first time. Apparently, Abou Youssef Elias was representing by marriage the Abou Mansour family as witnessed by the last name Al Bahri added to his own name in the records of the Court. In taking a guarantor from the Rizk family, he ensured the loyalty and support of other families of Kfarsghab.^[30]

[edit] The development of Kfarsghab (1772–1799)

The last part of this century will be devoted to the economic development of Kfarsghab. Sheikh Abou Youssef Elias will deploy an important energy, till his death on December 12, 1785. The foundation in 1748 and then extension of Morh Kfarsghab on the Baklik land of the Hamadeh ^[31] was necessary for the silkworm industrial development, especially during wintertime, as the European demand for Lebanese silk was important in that century. Also the extension of Mar Awtel church in 1776^[32] must have been necessary to accommodate the increasing population.

From 1755, the Sheikhs of Kfarsghab will be from the Abou Youssef Elias family, and specifically from the Estephane branch of the family. This family ran the administration of the villages of Kfarsghab, Toula, half of Karmsaddeh and half of Raskifa. For those two last villages, they shared the administration with another Bourgeois Sheikhs family, the Aouad from Hasroun. In fact, the Estephane family ruled exactly the same domain (Oktaa) as Sheikh Assaad Hamadeh, who ruled Kfarsghab in the previous period^[33].

This century would have witnessed the beginning of an important movement for Kfarsghab that will be at its apogee in the following century; that is to say the massive monastic vows among the natives of Kfarsghab. During the 18th century, more than 12 young men joined the ranks of the Lebanese Maronite Order. The demographic weakness of Kfarsghab in the first half of the century, the purchase of the winter village of Morh Kfarsghab and its development starting in 1748 and possibly the conflict inside the Order that started in 1748 between the Aleppine monks and the Lebanese ones and that eventually led to the splitting of the order into two in 1768, could be behind this modest number of monks from Kfarsghab^[34]. It will have a major impact on Kfarsghab.

[edit] The 19th Century

The 19th Century was a much contrasted century for Lebanon. It witnessed the evolution from a traditional peasant society tightly governed by the Sheikhs to a more modern dynamic society opened to the outside world.

[edit] The monastic orders (1840–1870)

The first major evolution for Kfarsghab was the massive attraction of the monastic orders especially that of the Lebanese Maronite Order solidly installed in the neighbouring Monastery of Qozhaya. The first half of the nineteenth century witnessed a doubling in the vocations from Kfarsghab. Between 1800 and 1850, the Order received 8 to 10 monks from Kfarsghab. Between 1850 and 1875, things changed dramatically. In this period, more than 23 monks from Kfarsghab took their vows^[35].

It is explained by a surge in the number of births in Kfarsghab in the 1830’s due to the improvement of the economic conditions favoured by the development of silk. In 1829, there were 125 Houses in Kfarsghab. Considering the average size of a household to be of 10, then the number of inhabitants of Kfarsghab was of 1250. The census of 1849 made state of 374 males, that is to say roughly a total of 1,870 people (number of males multiplied by 5).

The baby-boomers of the 1830–1840’s started joining massively the Monk Orders. One major factor was the decline in the revenues derived from silk in Jebbet Bsharri region that strated around 1845. In 1844–1845, silk revenues were covering 72% of the economic needs decreasing to 25% in 1851–1852 and further to 15% in 1857^[36]. Along with an increased centralization of the administration under the new regime of Qaym-maqiyamatayn (1842–1860), it contributed to the weakening of the political and economical powers of the sheikhs in the region in general leaving no economic perspectives to the young people. Also, the opening of a school in the neighbouring village of Bane in 1806 by the Lebanese Maronite Order for the basic instruction of the children of Kfarsghab and Bane served as a channel of detection and recruitment of talents and workforce for the Order. The effect was a reduction in the Kfarsghab population. According to a recent study ^[37], 344 males lived in Kfarsghab in 1862, that is to say 1,720 inhabitants.

[edit] The emigration (1870–1899)

In the 1870s, vocations among the natives of Kfarsghab started to decrease. Between 1875 and 1900, only 3 vocations were recorded for Kfarsghab. Vocations from Kfarsghab ceased on 17 December 1898 when Br Ephraim Saliba Abboud II joined. Brother Ephraim died on 9 April 1947. Overall, the Lebanese Maronite Order attracted 43 young people from Kfarsghab, making this village the 15th most important contributor to the Order, among the 382 villages that counted monks among their sons ^[38]. Still in 1900, Kfarsghab counted 13 monks among its sons, representing 4% of the adult male population compared to 0.8% for the average of the region of Jebbet Bsharri^[39].

Looking at the names and the monasteries of the monks from Kfarsghab, 75% of them were assigned to monasteries located in North Lebanon, most of them being in Qozhaya. The objective of the reform that took place after the revolt of Qozhaya in 1875 was to assign the monks in a different region from their region of origin. 4 monks of Kfarsghab participated in the 1875 revolt, one of them, brother Boutros, being among its leaders. As a result, the power of Qozhaya was broken, its lands divided between several monasteries and its monks (around 200 at its height) distributed in different Monasteries. It is possible, according to some historians ^[40], that this reform could have had a negative impact on the vocations from Jebbet Bsharri.

The special status of Mount Lebanon during the Regime of Mutasarrifiah (1861–1914) changed the administration of Kfarsghab which was attached to the distant district of Batroun. The collapse of the prices of silk from the 1870’s and onward deteriorated the economic situation. Politically and economically, the Sheikhs of Kfarsghab were weakened. Finally, the loss of interest in the monks order was replaced soon by the emigration to the USA and to Australia.

Emigration from Kfarsghab to the United States started in 1885^[41], followed by an emigration to Australia in 1887^[42]. It resulted in a dramatic decrease in the Kfarsghab population. In 1889, the number of inhabitants was estimated to 1,100 ^[43]. For Year 1900,it is reported 330 male adults, 950 inhabitants and 150 emigrants for Kfarsghab^[44]. Kfarsghab lost to the emigration 20% of its population in less than 15 years. This trend will continue in the 20th Century.

[edit] Geography

Kfarsghab is composed of two geographically separated settlements: Kfarsghab and Morh Kfarsghab respectively inhabited in summers and in winters. It is a typical organization of pastoral Mediterranean communities. For Kfarsghab, a total exodus of the population takes place twice a year in May and in October. All families without exception have a house in each village. The other well-known example in Lebanon is that of the neighboring town(s) of Ehden / Zgharta. In the recent years, the seasonal migration for Ehden / Zgharta is losing its importance with the necessities created by the development of the service sector in the coastal pole of Zgharta/Tripoli, increasing number of salaried employees and the growing financial difficulties of the households to maintain two dwellings. For Kfarsghab, the seasonal transhumance is still respected as agriculture remains the main activity.

Kfarsghab, the summer village, is located on the road going from Ehden to Bsharri in the northern part of the Qadisha valley, overlooking the Qozhaya valley at an average altitude of 1380 meters. Kfarsghab is mentioned in documents as old as 1283 AD^[45].

Morh Kfarsghab, the winter village, is located on the north-western slope of the Joueit valley separating Miziara from Bnachii. On average, it sits at 280 meters above sea level. A written document mentioning Morh Kfarsghab is dated to October / November 1748 AD (Thu'l-Qa'dah 1161 Hijri)^[46].

[edit] Climate

Kfarsghab  : Mediterranean mountain village with heavy winter snows and mild dry summers.

Min / Max average temperatures in Celsius Degree
Jan (2/8) Feb (2/8) Mar (4/10) Apr (7/14) May (11/20) Jun (15/25) Jul (20/27) Aug (19/27) Sep (16/24) Oct (11/20) Nov (8/17) Dec (5/11)

Morh Kfarsghab  : Mediterranean plain village with heavy rains, mild winters and hot dry arid summers.

Min / Max average temperatures in Celsius Degree
Jan (8/16) Feb (9/16) Mar (10/19) Apr (13/22) May (16/25) Jun (19/27) Jul (22/29) Aug (23/30) Sep (20/29) Oct (17/27) Nov (13/22) Dec (10/18)

[edit] Economy

Economy is based mainly on agriculture. The existence of two settlements at different altitudes ensure continuous and varied crops throughout the year.

[edit] Agriculture

For Morh Kfarsghab, the major issue is scarcity of water. Agricultural activities privileged crops that do not need irrigation, such as olive, grape and fig. The main culture is however olive harvested typically from November to January. In this part of the Mediterranean, a full crop of olive is only occurring every other year. There are in the village around six olive presses for olive oil extraction, most of them using the traditional first cold pressed method ensuring an excellent oil quality. Green olives and black olives are also produced as well as olive oil soap. There is also in Morh Kfarsghab an important production of grape used mainly to produce the national aniseed-flavoured distilled alcoholic drink, the Arak. Grape is harvested in July / August usually. In the recent years, Fig lost of its importance as it needs continuous care during summertime when most of the people are in the summer village, some 25 kilometers away. Finally, there is also a modest culture of almonds, citrus trees such as orange and lemon. For citrus, as it needs irrigation, it is cultivated in the valley of Joueit where water is available, at least during winters.

For Kfarsghab, the crops are summer fruits, mainly apples and pears. Pears are harvested during August and apples from mid September to mid October. Other fruits are also cultivated like peaches and cherries but on a modest scale.

The land owned by the Kfarsghab people extends on a large area in the Zgharta District, Bsharri District as well as Koura District. Land was acquired mostly at the beginning of the 20th Century thanks to the funds sent by emigrants. The revenues derived from agriculture would have been comfortable if , since the Seventies, the agriculture in Kfarsghab was not plagued by several problems. The main difficulties faced by agriculture are the lack of manpower due to emigration, the unfair competition of foreign products at lower dumped prices especially for olive oil, apple diseases and parasites, the weakness of the Lebanese pound increasing the prices of fertilizers and pesticides, the closing of some important foreign outlets for Lebanese products like Irak, the Lebanese Civil War.

[edit] Services

Services in Kfarsghab are not developed at all: a small snack / restaurant, an internet-cafe, few shops, few local taxis and individual truck owners. All the existing services are mostly a complimentary business to the main agricultural activity. The few salaried people in teaching and in the regional services sector do not count on the salaries derived from their job to ensure a decent living.

[edit] Construction sector

Since the 1990s, the construction sector developed rapidly thanks to emigrants and residents building, extending or renovating their real estate properties. Several highly qualified individual contarctors are found among the natives of Kfarsghab. Since 2005, this sector is facing some difficulties due to the general political situation of the country.

[edit] Emigrants remittances and support

Several welfare organizations founded by the emigrants support the infrastructure projects in Kfarsghab such as the public library, the public halls, the health center, the water supply, the roads, the churches and public buildings renovation. Also, emigrants help and support financially their relatives in the village.

[edit] Etymology and names

The Semitic name of Kfarsghab is composed of two parts: kfar and sghab. The first part, kfar, comes from the Semitic root kpr which in the context corresponds to the common Semitic noun kapar that means village.^[47] For the second part, sghab, it comes from the Semitic root sgb which means to make strong, safe. A second possibility could be the name of a person Segub.^[48]

Given the above references, the etymological meaning of Kfarsghab could be “the fortified village” or “the village of Segub”, Segub being a person name in this latter case.

Morh (Arabic: مرح‎, pronounced [murħ]) is derived from the Semitic root mrh. It is one form of mrah which according to Elie Wardini,

is almost exclusively in Lebanon a spread place name appellation. It signifies stable, hurdle, resting place (for livestock), besides also building in which the silk caterpillar is pulled (reeling of cocoons)…^[49]

It gives an indication as to the historical destination of this place during wintertime for the mountain people of Kfarsghab.

As cattle breeding was never a main source of income for Kfarsghab, it is possible that Morh Kfarsghab was used in winter for the Mullberry silkworms which represented a major activity in the region.

For the local people, Kfarsghab is referred to as jurid (Arabic: جرد‎, pronounced [gurd]). The word is of Arabic origin and means the arid barren land. Morh Kfarsghab is called sahil (Arabic: ساحل‎ [saːħil]) which literally means sea coast in Arabic.

[edit] Arabic accent

Kfarsghab’s particular Arabic accent is unique in Lebanon with its unusual ‘a’/‘o’ transformation phenomenon, meaning that the vowel a in Arabic words is vocalized as o. Some saw there the influence of the Syriac language and many scholars studied the subject without a definite conclusion as to the origin of this evolution. Here's what says about it Henri Fleisch in his study Le Parler Arabe de Kfar-Sghab:^[50]

... an originality of the ((Arabic)) accent of Kfarsghab is not to be limited by a silence at the drop of the voice for the pause, as the Arab dialects commonly do, but to mark this stop by a special form: a pausal form (Kfarsghab shares this originality with other accents of Lebanon : Zahlé and Shhim). The generally established classical Arabic system used the iskan to mark the pause. Kfarsghab has recourse to diphthongizations or changes of timbre of vowels; in the same way it is in Shhim and also in Zahlé... ... A major originality of the accent of Kfarsghab is its vocalism evolution. The Lebanese are especially struck by the frequency of its vowel 'o'. The well-read men see there an influence of the Syriac, as they attribute the 'o' one hears in North-Lebanon to an influence of the Syriac. In fact, the Syriac has no relation to this. In Syriac, in the Jacobite pronunciation which was that of the Syriac in Lebanon, the passage from a to o is uncoditional: all a’s are transformed, whatever their position, whatever the consonnatic context, the phenomenon is general. In North-Lebanon, it is not the case: the passage of a to o occurs only in determined cases, it is conditioned. A good example to make feel the difference between the Syriac and the usage of dialectal Arabic in North-Lebanon is the treatment of the Arabic word kitab (Arabic: كتاب‎ meaning book): in Syriac: ketob; in Kfarsghab: ktib; elsewhere in the North, ktéb. The major advantage of Kfarsghab, for the linguistic science, is to have pushed to the extreme the tendencies which govern the vowel a in North-Lebanon and in consequence to put in full light the transformation processes; it is thus in the center of this linguistic movement...

It is still more intriguing for the local population. The popular tradition in Kfarsghab attributes its particular accent to the special characteristics of the drinking water. From sociological point of view, a major difference in accent between neighboring settlements denotes usually either geographical isolation, or an unconscious collective will of identity conservation. It is true that the winter village, Morh Kfarsghab, is relatively isolated but for the original village, Kfarsghab, which was used for the major part of the year, geography is not an evident reason. The explanation for the difference has to be found somewhere else.

As to when this accent took its final shape, linguists do not have a model that estimates the period of time necessary to form an accent.

Since the mid 1950’s, emigration and education are contributing to the standardization of the original Kfarsghabian accent.

To listen to a recorded sample of the Arabic accent of Kfarsghab:

• in .Ogg Open Source Audio Format, click here: Kfarsghab Arabic accent sample in Ogg.
• in .mp3 Audio Format, click here: Kfarsghab Arabic Accent Sample in Mp3.

[edit] See also

Mar Awtel (Saint Awtel), the Saint Patron of Kfarsghab

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• (English)/(French) kfarsghab.net, useful information
• (English) The Australian Kfarsghabian community website
• (English) The American Kfarsghabian community website

[edit] References

• Abi Khalil, Father Sharbel,Tarikh Al-Qiddissayn Sarkis wa Bakhos Ehden, J. Reaaidy Press, 1995. (Arabic)
• Abi Khattar, Sheikh Antonios, known as AïnTourini, Moukhtassar Tarikh Jabal Loubnan, in the version of the father Ignatius Tannous AlKhoury revised by Dr. Elias Kattar, editor Lahd Khater, Beirut 1983. OCLC 21044417 (Arabic)
• El Debs, Bishop Youssef, Al Jamii Al Moufassal Fi Tarikh Al Mawarinah Al Mouassal - editor Dar Lahd Khater – 4th Edition, 1987. OCLC 21630879 (Arabic)
• El Douaihy, Patriarch Estephan, Tarikh Al Azminah, in the version of the Abbot Boutros Fahd, editions Dar Lahd Khater, Beirut – 3rd Edition. OCLC 41272562 (Arabic)
• Ducellier, Alain, Chrétiens d’Orient et Islam au Moyen Age, Armand Collin, Paris, 1996. ISBN 9782200014483 OCLC 48508270 (French)
• Gibran National Committee, Accounts of the Conventions on Jebbet Bcharri History, First convention, 1998, Second Convention, 2003, Third Convention, 2005.
• El Hattouni, Fr. Mansour, Nabthah Tarikhiyyah Fi Al Mouqataah AlKesrwaniah - editor Dar Nazir Abboud – Kaslik – 1986. OCLC 40972560 (Arabic)
• Karam, Fr. Maroun, Qoussat Al Milkiyah Firrahbana Allubnaniyah al Marouniyah, Dar Al Tiba'ah Al Lubananiyah, Beirut, 1972. OCLC 29797433 (Arabic)
• Al Kattar, Elias - Niyabat Trablous Fi ‘ahd Al Mamalik , Publications of the Lebanese University, Beirut 1998. OCLC 76784216 (Arabic)
• Khalifeh, Issam Kamal, North Lebanon in the Sixteenth Century - Details of material civilization, private editor, Beirut, 1999.
• Laban, Youssef, Kfarsghab and its region under the Mamluk, Private Editor, 2006.
• van Leeuwen, Ricahrd - Notables & Clergy in Mount Lebanon- Editor E J Brill - Leiden – 1994. (English)
• Liban Souterrain (Loubnan Al Jawfi) Magazine - Bulletin du GERSL – N 5 – March 1998. OCLC 55975747 (Arabic)/(French)
• Moosa, Matti, Al Mawarinah Fittarikh, Second Edition, Qadmous Publishing and Distribution, Damascus, 2004. OCLC 58419654 (Arabic)
• Moqbel, Fr. Antoine,Deir Mar Antonios Qozhay, J. AlReaidy Press, 2000.
• Moubarac, Fr. Youakim - Pentalogie Antiochienne / Domaine Maronite, Volume 1, Part 1, éditions Cénacle Libanais, Beirut 1984. OCLC 58616233 (French)
• Salibi, Kamal, Muntalaq Tarikh Loubnan, Second Edition, Naufal Edition, Beirut, Lebanon, 1992. OCLC 54216704 (Arabic)
• Salibi, Kamal, A House of Many Mansions, IB Tauris Edition, London, UK, 2003. ISBN 9781850430919 OCLC 22594574 (English)
• Salibi, Kamal, Tarikh Loubnan Al Hadith, Dar Annahar Publishing, Beirut, 2002. OCLC 29579571 (Arabic)
• Yammine, Fr. Youssef, Daleel Ehden, Editor El, 2000. (Arabic)